USC reaching to end of depth chart

Already this month, the USC-watching community has been introduced to walk-on receivers Robby Kolanz and George Katrib. Now, please welcome tight ends Chris Willson and Shane Sullivan.

USC’s top two tight ends, Xavier Grimble and Randall Telfer, have already been ruled out for Saturday’s game against Utah, interim coach Ed Orgeron said Sunday night. That leaves the Trojans with one healthy scholarship tight end, Jalen Cope-Fitzpatrick, a sophomore with one career catch.

The news is better for receiver Marqise Lee, whose status is questionable for Saturday. Lee missed the second half of Saturday’s loss to Notre Dame and said he “tweaked” his previously sprained knee.

Still, the Trojans are thin at skill positions. Orgeron said tailback Justin Davis, who walked to the team bus on crutches Saturday night, with his right foot in a walking boot, will not play against Utah, and the return of Tre Madden, who missed the Notre Dame because of a hamstring injury, is also uncertain.

That’s because receiver Darreus Rogers was also hobbled after the game because of a sore ankle, and the status of receiver Victor Blackwell (sprained ankle) is uncertain. Then, of course, there’s Telfer, who has a bad knee, and Grimble, who previously hurt his shoulder but was also limping Saturday night.

At tight end, after Cope-Fitzpatrick, there’s Willson, who transferred to USC this fall as a quarterback, and Sullivan, an Orange Lutheran High product who started his college career at Wyoming.

In fall camp, USC had defensive end Kevin Greene, who is listed at 6-foot-4, 255 pounds, working at tight end. That could be revisited, but Orgeron said he hadn’t yet come up with a plan at tight end.

“Right now, it’s in the preliminary stages, but there is a problem there,” Orgeron said.

MOVING TIME?

Orgeron indicated that, because of subpar play by USC’s secondary, he would once again explore the possibility of moving safety Josh Shaw to cornerback.

Anthony Brown, who missed five games because of a knee injury, returned against Notre Dame, and USC hoped Brown would provide an upgrade over Torin Harris. Brown played the entire game but struggled in pass coverage and got beat on a handful of plays.

“In defense of Anthony, he hadn’t practiced in, I don’t know how long,” Orgeron said, “so it was kind of hard to go out there and play against a very good football team, some big receivers, and perform well.”

Shaw started the 2012 season at safety and made a midseason move to corner. He started 2013 back to safety, briefly moved to cornerback, then returned to safety. Another move seems likely. Speaking of the secondary woes, Orgeron said that when Shaw played corner, “We didn’t have those problems.”

PENALTY PROBLEMS

After the game, Rogers and offensive lineman Kevin Graf were critical of officials who called USC for 11 penalties (95 yards) compared to six (38 yards) for Notre Dame. USC’s offensive line was called for holding four times, compared to once for Notre Dame, which particularly irked Graf.

“Some of them were obvious and we have to fix, no question,” Orgeron said. “Some of them were questionable, but we can’t control that.”

The 11 penalties was a season-high total for USC. The officials were from the Pac-12 Conference.

NOT FLYING HIGH

The first two weeks of Orgeron’s interim tenure were filled with cookies, movies and extensive use of the word “fun.” After USC fell to 1-1 under Orgeron, though, a couple players talked to reporters with moist eyes. Orgeron was asked about the mood on the four-hour flight back to Los Angeles.

“A lot of guys were quiet, hurting. We talked,” Orgeron said. “I saw some guys (Sunday) for treatment. They had their heads up, ready to move forward.”